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Astrea
Astrea was the third planet in the Apollo System and the second planet to be inhabited. History The vast majority of systems in The Royal Allegiance had no inhabitable worlds. The Apollo System was a very rare anomaly in that it possessed two such planets- Avalon, and Astrea. The result of this was the system becoming almost completely 'urbanised'. There was a huge amount of activity within the system as hundreds of thousands of orbital and deep space stations, military and civilian vessels, and massive and rapidly growing cities spread throughout the system. Although not as truly conquered as the Theran System, the Apollo System was undoubtedly a close second in galactic terms. Astrea itself was the fourth world to be colonised by the Allegiance, Avalon being the second and Haven the third. For centuries after its first colonisation, however, it remained as an agricultural world, primarily filling the rapidly growing food requirements of nearby Avalon. This allowed for the Theran System to remain in the lead with an early terraforming success that granted it too, a second planet. A second terraforming operation succeeded some centuries later and guaranteed the Theran System as the most developed in the galaxy. In around 1800 (UNSC calendar) Astrea was descended upon by numerous developers. Their vision was to develop the system as much as its nearest neighbour the Theran System, as two shining jewels in the centre of the Allegiance; monuments to Theran development and to sentient civilisation. Within two hundred years the planet had been developed to the extent of 21st century Earth. Unlike Avalon, however, growth here stopped and a balance between nature and civilisation was attempted. Despite this, numerous atmospheric filtering platforms were needed to prevent excess greenhouse gases. In 2144, the planet's first military facility was built with a large training base on the southern continent. More soon followed to take advantage of the planet's varied terrain and climate. In 2251 Astrea Station was completed. It was a huge station, larger even than the Marchestra-class, previously the largest Theran construction. It provided a defense platform capable of withstanding the largest of attacks, as well as a docking station for thousands of Allegiance Navy vessels and barracks for hundreds of thousands of soldiers. In 2842, following the fall of Britannia which allowed The Swarm access to the core, Astrea and Avalon were both invaded simultaneously. The Navy did not have the forced to commit to both planets and chose to save Avalon, thinking of its larger population, which was more than double that of Astrea. The people were abandoned, not to mention the hundreds of thousands of soldiers fighting to survive. Over 5 billion people were devoured before the Allegiance fought their way onto the ground. Avalon was scarred after its siege and Astrea was virtually leveled. The system never fully regained its former glory, even centuries after the war. Astrea itself was left in ruin for hundreds of years after the battle, a silent memorial to the billions who died there. Location Astrea was the third planet in the Apollo System, with Avalon being the second. The system was considered to be the 'deep core' of Allegiance holdings along with just two other systems, the Theran System and the Mira System. Physical Features There were two main continents on Astrea and several smaller subcontinents and islands. The largest continent, Julia, took up almost one side of the planet and covered a large portion of the planet's surface. Directly south, the continent of Marina took up the southern hemisphere and extended to the southern pole. The other half of the planet was largely oceanic, broken only by sparse islands. The planet was 62% land and 38% ocean. The interior of the continents were for the most part large plains and Savannahs, with small mountain ranged nearer the coasts and the area where the two continents touched. Human Features Aside from the myriad orbital stations of every sort, the planet was inhabited by humans in virtually every area. Stable, warm climates and flat land meant that settlements could be very widespread and so, as a result, large cities were rare on the planet. They were generally clean, busy but not overly large settlements that were self-sufficient. Despite this, travel between settlements was common and transport systems and other infrastructure were generally to a high standard. Category:Planets Category:Planets of The Royal Allegiance